Foreign

Soldiers made to polish officers’ shoes: Indian Army man complains after BSF, CRPF troopers

January 13, 2017

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A new video of an army soldier surfaced on social media on Thursday in which he has alleged harassment by superiors for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the problems faced by the soldiers.

In the video, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh, posted in 42 Infantry Brigade in Dehradun, said that after he wrote to the prime minister, the defence minister, the president and the Supreme Court in June last year, his brigade received a communication from the PMO asking for a probe into his grievances.

But, Singh said, instead of investigating the issue, his superiors began harassing him and also initiated an enquiry, which could potentially result in his court-martial.

He stressed that no sensitive information was leaked or mentioned in his letter to the prime minister.

“I had written an application to the PM in which I said that soldiers, who act as sahayaks, should not be made to polish shoes of officers,” Singh said.

He said when the Prime Minister’s Office wrote back to the Brigade asking it to investigate the matter, “the Brigadier… put pressure on me and tortured me to such a level that I could have taken an extreme step. But I will not commit suicide or act in any way or against anyone that will tarnish the name of my service,” he said.

“I have been called for court-martial, but what wrong have I done,” Singh asked.

The army said it has taken cognisance of the matter and it was being investigated.

Earlier, BSF trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav’s video became viral on social media, which had alleged that troopers are served bad quality food and at times they are forced to go the bed hungry.

In another video, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable Jeet Singh asked why the para-military force personnel are not provided facilities at par with their army counterparts when they are also performing similar tasks.